Sunday, July 24, 2011

Plans for the UK residency and research trip are moving forward.

Its been such a hugely busy month... plans are now well underway for the trip to the UK in October - November. Still much to do though. Its been mind-boggling looking at where to stay in London - remembering my favourite places from when I lived there in the mid to late 80's - and investigating places that I definitely want to discover this time round... like the Chelsea Physic Gardens which I write about at the Homage blog last week. Let me know your tips if you have some up your sleeves wont you!

Today I found the images of the recent Pecha Kucha evening on their Brisbane website today. These images are from the 7th of July when I was one of 9 presenters at the Brisbane Powerhouse for the July Pecha Kucha event.

above: the big screen version of this below.

The screen was excellent - the slides well visible. The bright light shining in one's eyes I had not rcckoned on... but with 6 minutes and 40 seconds to deliver 20 slides and tell one's story there was little time to focus on that!

Today I used the same slideshow to present for a very low-key, lovely audience... with the luxury of 25 minutes to speak and no bright lights to contend with. This was great practice for

an event I'm doing on Thursday evening at Southbank

- connected to the (almost) month long Homegrown Exhibition:

About HomegrownHomegrown is an initiative of the Design Institute of Australia—Queensland Branch to promote the collaboration and cultivation of local design talent in Queensland and strengthen the connection between design, plate, planet, people and culture.

This program fosters engagement with our local community, industry, business, and education sectors through the integration of design, art and architecture in the public realm, to showcase the role design plays in shaping our sustainable future.

Pecha Kucha venue - Brisbane Powerhouse

The final slide for the evening. This image was put together in the first place for the Southbank'Life in the Slow Lane' show I did with a team of 4 others which opened July 8th.

Natalie Wright - who has been a brilliant organising Tour de Force behind the Home Grown initiative (there are others too!)... She's been a fabulous go-to person whilst setting up the Thursday evening event. Do let me know if you require more information.

Note the use of this design below..its been one of those very useful images I've been able to apply in a few directions this month.

HOMEGROWN 2011 'LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE' PRESENTS:

DIAlogue with Sophie Munns - 'Homage to the Seed'

Sophie Munns, Visual Artist from Homegrown Team 8 - DM Restaurant Jazz Bar ‘Back to Basics’ and 2010 Brisbane Botanic Gardens Artist-in-Residence, will discuss her collaboration on the 'Seeds for Life' Seed Lab (set up by Kew Garden's Millennium Seed Bank Project) and the ongoing passion and commitment to indigenous seed heritage and biodiversity in Queensland which has grown out of her art.

Later this year Sophie’s focus on Art, Seeds and Biodiversity continues with an onsite residency at the Kew Garden's Millennium Seed Bank facility in Sussex, in addition to her art practice and ongoing engagements, workshops, research, blogging and collaborations. Read more on her residency project at http://sophiemunns.weebly.com/residency.html and learn how the creative industries, the food sector and all individuals are able to contribute to the biodiversity of our seed heritage.

where

Homegrown HomebaseStanley Street Plaza, South Bank (next to Nando’s)Light Refreshments will be availableFollowed by a cash bar at DM Restaurant Jazz Bar

About HomegrownHomegrown is an initiative of the Design Institute of Australia—Queensland Branch to promote the collaboration and cultivation of local design talent in Queensland and strengthen the connection between design, plate, planet, people and culture.

This program fosters engagement with our local community, industry, business, and education sectors through the integration of design, art and architecture in the public realm, to showcase the role design plays in shaping our sustainable future.

About 'Life in the Slow Lane'Just like slow food, slow design is all about using local ingredients, harvested, prepared and consumed in a socially and environmentally responsible way to combat the sometimes overwhelming fast-paced lifestyle of the 21st Century.

Slow design is about creating quality over quantity, pulling back on the reins and allowing time for designers, artisans and end users to derive sensorial pleasure from the process.

Thursday night I am excited to be announcing my wonderful new sponsors as well as launching my involvement with the *Australia Cultural Fund for the upcoming research trip to the UK in October - November.

I will also take the opportunity to acknowledge in-kind sponsorship which came from Percolator Gallery in the second half of 2010 and again recently with provision of the Gallery as the site for a wonderfully enjoyable series of weekend workshops.

The Kew Millennium Seed Bank will be providing in-kind sponsorship in the form of 3 weeks on-site accommodation at their Sussex Facility during October.

A big thank you to Natalie Wright and The Qld branch of the Design Institute of Australiaand theSouthbank Corporation for graciously making possible this Thursday evening event.

*Australia Cultural Fund -

AbaF has a unique tax status through which we can use our deductible gift recipient status (DGR) on behalf of arts organisations and individual artists that do not have DGR. This encourages the generosity of donors to support the richness of Australia's cultural life.

Donors can make a tax-deductible gift to AbaF and express a preference that the donation goes to a particular arts organisation or artist. The AbaF board takes the preference into consideration when making grants.

AbaF works with eligible arts organisations and artists to register viable projects and to develop the best approach to prospective donors.

AbaF offers this as a free service to donors, arts organisations and artists thanks to the generous support of the Macquarie Group Foundation. This means that 100% of donations go directly to an arts organisation or artist once approved by our board of business leaders.

Macquarie Group Foundation is the national principal partner of AbaF's Australia Cultural Fund.

The donations I've checked have always been allocated to the designated person... some legal technicality requires the rather off-putting wording re "preference". The fact 100% of the donation is delivered is also reassuring!

I'll soon have more to report on all this... you're in the loop now and I can see things will come together... a few months back it was a wished for dream and I had no idea how things would eventuate... or if they would. Fingers crossed ... all will come to fruition.

oh and I can concur - ABaF is a very good organisation - (I'm VP of FSCLAP - aka 'living artist' projects..... ABaF is our financial intermediary - and we've found that yes indeedy the funds that folk deposit and wish to have channeled to living artist DO go to living artist)

Monday morning and waking up to find lovely comments form blog visitors is a treasure indeed!

Nathalie... enjoy your very well-deserved vacation and yes... a little break would be lovely ... know I'll need one at the end of the trip!x

Janis,oh... my fellow cancerian,... you can imagine that front of stage thing comes with its worries and nerves... I think the confidence comes from that desire to protect something I see as critical having come to matter far more than the thought 'what will people think of me?'I could never stand there and just rattle on about my paintings like that... seeds ... well thats a whole more profound story. Far beyond the insignificance of moi! Thank you... the warmth of your message gives me courage! And makes me smile!xo s

Lesley,thank you... very exciting ... especially after 23 years getting no further than New Zealand from Australia - twice ... for 2 weeks at a time! ... haven't sketched out plans here at all... outside the KEW MSB destination the rest is all currently being put in place! Will keep you posted! S

M,Merci! I must visit your tumblr...Its all us to every one of us indeed. I found myself muttering that at the end of my presentation yesterday.. like a mantra... a few times for quiet effect.S

Thanks Em...you i can totally imagine would love being there... can just imagine your photos!S

It's a bright sunny, chilly Monday morning here... much to do.. have a good week everyone!Thanks for your good cheer all!Sophia

H Ronnie,your comment came in after I had commented... tricky that! So much to do... YES! ...and I've certainly spent time wondering can it come together ..will the funds come... but at some point recently i just gave over and trusted things will happen. When the local sponsors stepped forward... more on that soon... thats when I was so blown away that people I know would choose to be behind this endevour that it pushed me beyond the worry phase and into 'I'd better get on this wave and go for it' frame of mind! All the what ifs have fallen aside ... on with the show.Really appreciate hearing of your experience and validation of the ABaF - ACF scenario. They've been wonderful. thorough and so supportive.S

yes India... indeed... so far so good! I guess you cant sit there and watch them sprout ... you have to get on and hope when you come and check in all is doing nicely!S

Mary,i do have to put on my brave shoes... I guess practice makes perfect? Better anyway! ... getting that all the time at the minute!You'd have hooted with laughter had you seen my brother coaching me for the Pecha Kucha night. He remarked how I'm not funny when I speak "so dont try!" "OK, OK! - got that!" That came up because a few of us were at a Pecha Kucha event 2 yrs ago that had a great crop of presenters and they were hysterically funny some of them.. and successful too in their deliveries.Be yourself and keep going... and dont worry about funny!....Thats my motto... i'll tell you if i ever get to the stage of making a laugh!S

oh... i had thought water sign = cancer... shows too many late nights for too long Janis! Now you mention it... seem to remember reading a certain post of yours!Yes... the precious things...thanks for popping back in with that my friend!xoxo

Thank you Suzanne...lovely to hear from you... exciting that I'll be in your part of the world even if not country. Have not forgotten the book.... was thinking of you today actually. Hope summer is most pleasant over there for you!keeping the faith....well said!S

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ABOUT:

Blogging for me is an extension of keeping a journal which I have done in various forms over the decades. The difference being this is not a closed book! I like that it offers an opportunity to explore that which concerns me as an artist and as an individual about living and participating in this vastly complex, unquestionably exciting yet unnerving time in human history.
Through the blog I hope to increase the possibilties for cross-pollination which I believe can strengthen the sense of being part of something both personal and universal that is vital, expansive and refreshing.